The Spirit World
by xginnyx11
Summary: What if instead of Queen Tatiana being murdered it was Dimitri? Heartbroken, Rose is forced to do the impossible and rescue him from the Spirit World. It proves harder than she thought though. Will she survive? Will Dimitri and Rose be together at last?
1. Chapter 1

"Rose, give it up. They aren't going to open that door. You need to go to bed," Adrian said, attempting to grab my arm and pull me away. I shook it off easily, and focused on smashing it into the door as hard as I could. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the all the hurt building up inside my heart.

"Seriously, Rose. Stop. Take my hand," Adrian said, but with a familiar tone to it.

"Don't use compulsion on me. I have to get in there. I need to know what happens. I need to help them find a culprit and then I have to kill him or her. And I won't be nice about it. They will die slowly and.." I said, but was interrupted when the door opened and smacked into my face. Luckily, Adrian was right behind me and was able to prevent me from falling.

Queen Tatiana stood, hands on her hips, glaring down at me. She sure didn't look happy. I made a move to get through the open space to her right, but she stuck out her arm and blocked me.

"Miss Hathaway, I thought I made it clear that you were not allowed in this room or anywhere near it. Apparently not. If you continue to be a disturbance, I will send some guards after you. Please don't make me do that. Let Adrian take you away from here. If anything major happens, we will let you know," she said, her eyes softening up her glare at me.

"You wouldn't have to tell me if I was in there myself," I said stubbornly.

"You are not mature enough to handle this. Go with Adrian. Please," she said, with a slight hint of pleading in her voice. I went to say something in response, but Adrian grabbed my arm and tugged me away. I decided to remain silent for once. She made it clear that nothing I said was getting me into the meeting. There were several meetings afterwards which I could try to get into.

Once we were halfway down the hall, Adrian moved his grip from my arm down to my hand, and gave it a quick squeeze. I grimaced a bit, but didn't let go. We walked like this all the way to my room in complete silence. It was pretty late, so we didn't see anyone else in the hallways.

"It's okay, you can go. I'm going to bed. I promise I won't go back to the meeting. My fists have had enough for today," I said. Adrian looked a bit worried, and on the verge of saying something, so I silenced him with a quick kiss on the lips. He decided whatever he was going to say before wasn't important, and just simply nodded and was on his way.

Finally. I hadn't been allowed time to myself since the news hit. The news being Dimitri's death, or murder, no one was completely sure. But I was. I was almost positive it was a murder. Dimitri had finally become a dhampir again, after a brief period of time of being a Strigoi. He'd done lots of terrible things. Ones I didn't want to relive, but that wasn't his fault. His soul wasn't right. But Lissa was able to cure him, though it took quite a lot to do so. Including breaking our enemy out of a high security prison, only to have him disappear right under our noses. But that was in the past. People were finally beginning to accept Dimitri. He had had a chance at being a Guardian again, which was what he loved most. He could have paid everyone back for all the horrible things he did. Somebody robbed him of that chance and they were going to pay.

One flaw in my plan, however, was that I had absolutely no idea who to attack. The murder had just happened yesterday and no one had found proof yet. I felt like my heart was cut in half, without Dimitri. It wasn't like before. Before, I knew he was a Strigoi. Still out there somewhere, thinking about me. No matter how evil his thoughts were, they were still his thoughts. Now he was gone. Completely and totally gone. Gone before he realized that his love for hadn't faded at all. It had strengthened. Thinking about that conversation hurt more than anything. I repeated his words in my head over and over. _Loves fades and mine has. _I should be glad, to a certain extent, that he's gone. I won't have to look at him anymore, watch him ignore me, and worship Lissa. I won't have to look at how gorgeous he is and think of that one night we had sex in his cabin. I could fully commit myself to Adrian, or someone else when the time came. But that wasn't going to happen. I still loved him.

I flung myself onto my un-made bed and screamed into my pillow. What did everything in my life to be so fucked up all the time? Why me? What did I do? Tonight was a good pity night. I would wear my favorite pajamas and cry myself to sleep. I was just sliding on my plaid pajama pants when it hit me.

I flung Lissa's latest spirit ring off my hand, and ran out the door as fast as I could. Everyone was already asleep, or in the meeting, so I had no danger of meeting anyone yet. I reached the gates in a few minutes and was surprised. There were no guards. I had no idea where they were instead of here, but I wasn't about to wait and see. I sprinted through the gates and into the night.

"Dimitri!" I called out. "I know you're out here, please. Dimitri!" I called, and kept going. It had been at least five minutes of screaming and there was nothing. Had I lost my ability to see ghosts? No, that couldn't be it. After all I had done, he was ignoring me.

I found a rock and sat down and cried. I don't know how long I stayed like that. It felt like hours, but in reality it was probably only a few minutes. Then I felt his presence. I looked up and there he was.

Dimitri. In ghost form. He was still handsome as ever. His face surprised me though. When I had seen Mason, and the other ghosts, they had always looked sad. Dimitri looked angry. I stood up at once and moved closer. I waved my arm in front of me, almost not sure it was his ghost. He backed away.

"Dimitri, oh my, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry. You never got your chance to be regular again. And I know you're mad and you don't love me anymore, but please. You have to tell me who killed you. I have to kill them too. I need to. If I can't find a way to save you, I have to kill him like he killed you," I blurted out.

Dimitri didn't move. His face stayed exactly the same, like he hadn't heard me at all. He had heard me, I knew it. Otherwise he wouldn't be here. But he said nothing.

"Please, talk to me," I pleaded with my words and my eyes.

"No," he said. The word had been spoken very quietly, almost full of pain, but I knew that he meant for it to be with force.

"Come on, you have to tell me. You know I'll do it. I'd do anything for you. I made you a dhampir, whether you want to give me for credit or not, I did. But now you're gone and it hurts. It hurts so much. It shouldn't hurt. You hurt me before it all happened. You said you didn't love me, so I shouldn't care that you're dead. But I do. The only thing I can do to ease the pain is kill whoever did this to you. I need your help, please," I said again, begging myself not to cry.

Dimitri simply shook his head and began walking away. I ran after him, "Wait!" I called. "I just gave you two huge rambles and all I got was a no and a head shake. You can't tell me you don't revenge. You were going to be a Guardian again, and they took that away from them. Make them pay."

"You don't understand," Dimitri said, still weakly but I heard it. I went to speak but he shook his hand and motioned for me to follow.

I followed willingly. Was he taking me to the killer? No, surely not. Either way, I didn't care. I would follow Dimitri anywhere.

Or not. I hadn't realized we were heading back the way I came. We were in front of the school now. I pouted. I thought I saw the slightest hint of a smile on his face, but I couldn't be sure.

"Go," he said, pointing back towards the gate, and the time on the door. It was late.

"I'm coming back later," I said, realizing my defeat, and walked back into the gates. The guards were still not there. Huh. How strange. A good strange though. I ran quickly back to my room, not wanting to be caught if they were coming back.

Only to find Lissa sitting on my bed.

I sighed and sat on the bed next to her. She didn't say anything for a few moments. Just sat there and stared at the ground, then finally up at me.

"You told Adrian you wouldn't go back," she said, her voice was meant to be full of anger, but it was really full of worry. Lissa worried so much about me. There was no way I could tell her what I really did. I mean, I hadn't really done anything. Dimitri didn't tell me anything. Still, she wouldn't want me to see him at all. Or try and find his killer.

"Sorry," I said, trying to give her a slight mischievous smile.

"Don't give me that smile. You're going to get in trouble, Rose!" Lissa scolded.

"It'll be worth it if I can get into that meeting. I can help them. Why can't they understand that?" I said, getting more and more enraged.

"Yes, you can. But not right now. You heard Tatiana. You're too emotionally unstable at the moment. You aren't thinking straight. When you are, you can go in, if they haven't solved it yet," Lissa said. She picked up a brush of my end table and began to slowly untangle the mess that was my hair. Lissa always knew how to calm me down.

"Alright, alright. Though I don't know why you all think I'm so damn emotional. He told me his love for me faded. Why should I be depressed about him dying?" I said, holding back tears.

"Rose, don't go there. You and I both know he didn't mean that, and that you still loved him," Lissa said, wanting to say more, but was cut off by me.

"Love. I love him," I corrected.

"Rose," she began.

"Don't tell me who I can or can't love. I'm going to do whatever it takes to avenge him," I said firmly, tossing my hair over my shoulder for added effect.

"He's gone and you know it. I'm sorry, so so sorry, but what does killing someone else do? It doesn't change the fact that he's gone. You can't go into the spirit world and save him. Nobody ever leaves the spirit world to come back to the real world. Nobody. I know you didn't say you were going to try, but I just wanted to get rid of that idea before you thought of it yourself. Are we clear?" She said, narrowing her eyes at me, and putting down the brush back on the end table.

"Spirit world?"

"Didn't Adrian tell you?" Lissa said, puzzled.

"No…what are you talking about?" I said, immediately intrigued. I scooted closer to her in anticipation, making sure I could hear and remember every word that came out of her mouth.

"Adrian found it. He meant to get into one of your dreams but you weren't asleep yet, but he was concentrating so hard. He thought you were mad at him, and this was the only way to speak to you. Only he didn't realize you were awake. But it didn't shut him out; it brought him to the Spirit World. He didn't stay long, only enough to gain some important information. The spirits were scaring him, he said. He was on his way out, when a spirit tried to touch him. He begged Adrian to take him back, but then a tall, guard-like spirit dragged him away, convinced he was crazy. I guess he didn't notice Adrian. That's where the spirits live, Rose. The ones that are waiting for their forty days to be up or the ones who never found peace. Unless you summon them, then they enter the real world for a bit," Lissa said.

I gasped in shock. "Are you serious? How come you didn't tell me before? I need to go find Dimitri. I need to take him back!" I said happily, jumping up in down on the bed in excitement.

Lissa frowned. "Did you listen to anything I just said? You can't. Only Adrian knows how to get in there. And even if you did somehow get there, Dimitri wouldn't be able to leave even if he wanted to. They have guards everywhere and probably a bunch of other security things that prevent them from leaving. It's impossible. You need to focus on moving on and being a Guardian, not on saving Dimitri. Again."

"I have to. I love him too much to let him go. I'm Rose Hathaway, Lissa. I can do the impossible,"

**Author's Note: **I'm so incredibly rusty with my writing, but I've been addicted to this series and couldn't help but want to write a story about it. I'll hopefully be updating later today as it is Sunday and I have no life. Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

"Rose, Rose, Rose! Guess what?" Lissa said, jumping up and down with excitement, causing her hair to fly up behind her and for several people to stare.

"What?" I said, curiously.

"They've just sent me to take you to the meeting. They're letting you go! And if you're good, which I'm sure you will be, they'll let you come back. Isn't that great?" Lissa said, quickly trying to flatten her flyaway hair.

"When is it?" I said, frowning at my choice of outfit today. It was just a simple pair of black pants and a white blouse.

"Now! Let's go. You look great," she said, smiling. I grabbed her hand and allowed her to tug me down the hallway to the meeting room.

"Hello, Miss Dragomir, Miss Hathaway. We were expecting you. Take your seats," said a man, with a long brown beard and little hair on his head, as he opened the door to let us in.

The hall was beautiful. The walls were carved beautifully, along with all the pews. There was a great big podium in the front for Queen Tatiana, and several seats along the outside that were meant to serve as a jury, in a way. Our court was a bit different. Almost all the seats were taken. I couldn't be sure but it didn't look there were any dhamphirs in the audience. The ones that were there were acting as Guardians and stood towards the outskirts of the room. Queen Tatiana glared at us, and pointed to the remaining pew in front of her. Lissa and I quickly took her seats as Tatiana clear her voice.

"Bring in the first suspect," she said, standing up a bit straighter.

The bald man from the door and another man with long, shaggy brown hair opened another door and brought in a man. Except, it wasn't a man at all. It was a boy, around my age, with brown hair and striking blue eyes. Adrian. I gasped, but I was the only one. Everyone else seemed to find nothing odd about this at all. I tried to make eye contact with Adrian, but he kept his head down, ashamed?

"Mr. Ivashkov, please take a seat," Tatiana said. I tried to hold back laughter. Was she honestly serious? I knew how much she loved Adrian, she would never do this. Plus, it was _Adrian_. He was clearly not capable of doing something like this. They were probably just desperate for suspects, this was a joke. Right?

"I'm going to make this as brief as possible, so let's start. Are you or are you not in a relationship with Rosemarie Hathaway?" She asked, her eyes boring right into his, lacking emotion.

"I am," Adrian said, without hesitation.

"Are you sleeping with her?" She asked. I went to open my mouth to protest (how could this possibly have to do with Dimitri? She was just interrogating him about me!), but Lissa elbowed me gently in warning.

"No," he said.

"Do you love her?" What on earth was she doing?

"Yes," he said. I gaped, the answer catching me off guard. But before I could even stop to think about it, she asked another question.

"Were you aware that Miss Hathaway was in love with Dimitri?" She said, her eyes flickering to mine for a short instance.

"Yes," Adrian replied, sadly, I noticed.

"She loved him more than you. She slept with him, but not you. She endangered herself to save him, and ignored you. How did this make you feel?" Tatiana said, as the majority of the audience stared at me. I clenched my fists. If she was trying to embarrass me, it wasn't working. It was just pissing me off. She was using past tense, like I didn't love him anymore.

"Sad," he said, his eyes intently gazing at the floor rather than at me or anyone else.

"Were you ever jealous of Dimitri?"

"Yes," Adrian said. He was quite good at this, always keeping his answers nice and short.

"Were you jealous enough to kill him to get Rose to yourself?" I had enough, I stood up.

"This is-" I began.

"Sit down and be quiet. Mr. Ivashkov, please answer the question," said Tatiana, glaring at me. Lissa tugged me down next to her, silently.

"No. Absolutely not. I never wished Dimitri any harm. I would never hurt Rose, either. I told you, I love her. Plus, how would I go about doing that? I'm a Moroi and a spirit user. I have no way to kill a well-trained dhampir," he said, finally looking up and into my eyes. I fidgeted nervously in my seat.

"You may take a seat, Adrian. It's Rosemarie's turn now," Queen Tatiana said, narrowing her eyes in my direction. I looked towards Lissa, in a did-you-know kinda way. She nodded. Ouch.

"Would you say you have violent tendencies, Miss Hathaway?"

"I just like fighting, that's all," I said, still fuming over Lissa. Why would she lie to me? Was getting on good with the queen more important than me? Our friendship?

"And you're good at fighting, yes? The best in your class before you graduated?"

"Yes," I said, sending a glare at Lissa.

"We all know of your Strigoi kills too. So killing a Guardian dhampir would be easy for you?" Tatiana said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. I knew where she was going with it, but it was pointless. Everyone in this room knew I didn't kill him and neither did Adrian. This was only to cover up the fact that they really hadn't found any suspects.

"Not necessarily easy, but I could do it," I said.

"Did you or did you not have a loud argument in the church with Dimitri just the day before he was murdered?" I tried not to frown. I knew they were going to go there.

"I did," I answered, wishing I could lie.

"What was it about?"

"None of your-" I began, but with a glare from Tatiana, I decided I had to answer. "I told him that he should forgive himself, just like God did. He told me it wasn't that easy. I didn't understand. He needs to get away from me, so he doesn't have to be constantly reminded of what he did to me. He said he didn't think he could love anymore, so I should go away. I said he was stupid. We were meant to be together, and that I loved him and wouldn't give up on him. He told me he gave up on me and said loves fades and his had. Then he left." A silent tear slid down my cheek. Fuck. Just broke my number one rule: don't let them see you cry.

Ignoring the audience's loud whispers, Tatiana continued. "Did you see him again after that?"

"Yes," I answered, completely ignoring Lissa's sympathetic eyes.

"About?" She questioned suspiciously 

"The age law. He didn't know about it," I said, careful not to reveal the little bit that had to do with the bite mark on my neck.

"That's all?"

"Yes."

"Alright, we'll stop now. I'd like you to come back tomorrow. Dismissed," she said, and I stomped out of the room, followed by Lissa and Adrian. Feelings of guilt flowed from Lissa right to me. Fucking bond. What was it good for? It didn't tell me Lissa was setting me up. I just kept on walking, as fast as my legs could carry me.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I had to. Let's go back to your room and talk about it. Please?" Lissa said, running to catch up, with Adrian on her heels.

"What is there to talk about? You value your reputation with the Queen and her people more than our friendship. I get it, okay? I know that's more important. I know you need to look good for them, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. You could have warned me, Liss!" I yelled, raising my voice louder than necessary. Good. Let them stare.

"That's not it, Rose! I value your friendship more than anything," she said, pouting.

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm going for a walk. Come on, Adrian," I said angrily, dragging a silent Aidan with me.

Everyone was filing out of the meeting room, staring at Adrian and I. Adrian, despite the glares, grabbed my hand and walked me to his room. I pulled up his maroon, down comforter and sat down, burying my face in his pillow.

"I can take you there," Adrian said, surprising me.

"Lissa said it was impossible," I said, brushing a piece of hair out of my face and sliding closer to Aidan so our knees were touching.

"Lissa lies," Adrian said.

"How do you do it?" I said, excitedly, trying to ignore his last comment.

"We can't do it now. How about tomorrow morning, before the next meeting? You need to make up with Lissa. I know you're mad, but we need her for this. It'd probably be good if you warned Dimitri you were coming too. He probably won't be happy, but he will hopefully still help us help him. Can you do that now?" Adrian asked, looking deep into my eyes, and sending chills up my arms.

"I need to get outside the wards, but there are guards. There weren't guards yesterday but I won't get lucky twice," I said, uncrossing my legs and standing up.

"I'll distract them, but take my sweatshirt. It's cold out," he said, sliding on his sweatshirt before I could refuse. He _was_ right, it was cold out. I just felt wearing his sweatshirt when all I could think about was Dimitri.

Next I knew, I was crouching in a bush, wearing Adrian's baggy sweatshirt, and waiting for Adrian to distract some guards so I could run out to talk to my dead boyfriend's ghost so he can help us rescue him from Spirit World. That's normal, right?

"Hey, guys! I've come to relieve you guys for ten minutes. Go get something to eat. There's pizza in the hall for you," he said, sending me a slight wink.

"Why are they sending you and just you? What about our relief guards?" said the taller of the guards, walking towards Adrian.

"They're eating. If you don't hurry, it'll all be gone. Seriously. The only person stupid enough to leave these wards unallowed is my girlfriend. I definitely have a few tricks up my sleeve to prevent her from leaving, if you know what I mean," Adrian said, giving me another wink.

"I'm starving. Let's go," said the older Guardian, the boss perhaps. They walked away rather fast, in a hurry to get the pizza. We had to actually order it though, so they wouldn't suspect anything. Adrian motioned me forward.

"Go."

I walked right through the gate and through the woods I had just wandered yesterday. I breathed in and out slowly.

"Go away, ghosts. I only want to talk to Dimitri," I said, but nothing happened, so I added a small, "please?"

And there he was. His dark brown hair in a small ponytail, wearing the same clothes I last saw him in, his dark brown eyes boring into my own.

"I told you to stay away," he whispered.

"It's impossible for us to stay apart. You know that. But I'm not here to talk about us, I'm here to talk about you. I'm going to rescue you," I said, gazing up into his eyes, fluttering them a bit in an attempt to convince him.

"You can't save me this time, Roza," Dimitri said, his nickname for me melting my heart a bit.

"I can. I don't really have time to tell you about our plan entirely because we don't even have one yet, at least one I know, but the guards are coming back. I just need your word that when I come to the Spirit World tomorrow, you'll help me save you. Do I have it?" I said.

Dimitri was silent for a few moments, debating. But then he nodded. "Yes. It's not going to work though."

"Anything is possible. You taught me that," I said, smiling.

"Promise me you won't get lost in the Spirit World. I don't mean location-wise either," he said, a worried looking crossing his face.

"I won't. I have your love to guide me," I said.

"I don't love you anymore," he said, harshly.

"Don't you remember what I said when I pushed you off the bridge? I'll always love you. Meaning I still love you, even if you don't love me, even if you're dead, I still love you. Nothing is going to change that. Ever," I said, and on that note, I walked back through the gate and into the Royal Court.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is stupid, Adrian," I said, pouting. For the last twenty minutes he has been pretending to be Lissa, and acting out millions of ridiculous make-up sections. It wasn't helping.

"You're stupid," he retorted. "Now, let's try again. What are you going to say?"

"I hate you," I said, picking up my pillow and hitting him in the head with it.

"I know I'm not a genius, but something tells me that saying I hate you is not the best way to make up with someone. Try again," Adrian said, picking up the pillow I had hit him with and hitting me back.

"I'm sorry," I said, finally giving into his stupid game, figuring it was the only way to shut him up.

"Be more specific," he said, not quite satisfied. A stray of brown hair fell into his eyes. Not sure exactly what I was doing, I leaned forward to move it out of the way. I liked his eyes, they shouldn't be hidden. Adrian took this movement the wrong though, and leaned forward to, our lips crashing into each other.

I couldn't stop myself. He tasted so good, so warm. I hadn't kissed anyone in what felt like ages. What was the harm? It was just a kiss, I tried to think to myself, but then he toppled over on to me. His kisses became more passionate, more fierce. Stop, stop, stop. This isn't right. This is Adrian, this is not Dimitri. But he tasted so good. He bit my lip, and began playing with the hem of my shirt.

This is so wrong. This isn't Dimitri, I repeated myself several times, and then pushed him off of me and sat up.

"We're supposed to be practicing making up, not making out," I said, trying to force a laugh.

"I'm sorry," Adrian said awkwardly. "I shouldn't have, I mean, you. Dimitri. It was wrong of me. You're just so beautiful, you know?"

"How can you still like me after all the shit I've put you through? And all that I'm trying to do right now?"

"I told you that night when I…you know. I'm addicted to you. Nothing you say or do can make me not want you. I just want to make you happy. If saving Dimitri does that, then that's what we'll do. I just couldn't help myself, but it won't happen again," Adrian said, awkwardly blushing. I smiled. Adrian was always so smooth, never uncomfortable. This was rare.

"Don't be sorry," I said, leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm such a mess, but I think I'm ready to deal with Lissa. Can I go?" I said, picking myself off the floor.

"You never passed my test, but at this rate you never will. So you better get going. Good luck," he said, smiling and opening the door for me.

"Lissa, it's me. Can I come in?" I said, shifting nervously from one foot to another, waiting outside her room.

"Rose?" Lissa said, instantly opening up the door. She was in her pajamas with her blonde hair tied hastily into a ponytail. She still looked beautiful. She motioned me inside.

"Hi," I said, plopping down on her bed.

"Hi," Lissa said, sitting across from me.

"I'm sorry I'm a bitch," I said, biting my lip.

"You aren't a bitch, Rose. You just have a temper. You wouldn't be yourself without it," Lissa said, smiling.

"You're the best," I said, smiling and leaning in for a hug.

"I know," she said, laughing.

"That's it? Adrian make me practice saying I'm sorry for an hour. Then I come here and we make up in less than a minute," I whined. I could have been with Dimitri right now.

"We could start over. I'll reject your apology and we can start screaming at each other. Would that make you feel better?" Lissa suggested, her eyes twinkling with laughter. How could I ever be mad at a girl like her? She was so beautiful, inside and out.

I laughed. I love how she made me feel. I was always so happy around her. My laughter was interrupted when someone barged through the door.

"Excuse me, you two ladies need to come with me," a strange man said, grabbing us both by the wrists and yanking us roughly towards the door.

"Where are you taking us?" Lissa asked, narrowing her eyes at the man.

"To the Queen. She wishes to speak to you both privately."

I looked at Lissa, but she just shrugged. She had no idea this time. We followed them an in complete silence, but I felt Lissa's worry through the bond. The man zig zagged around corners quickly, as we struggled to keep up. We ended up right near the boundaries of the Royal Court. Were we leaving the barriers? Did they know I could talk to Dimitri?

"This isn't the way to the Queen," Lissa said, suspiciously.

"Yes it is," said a voice around the corner. It was Queen Tatiana. She wasn't wearing her usual expensive outfits, just a black top and black pants. Was she trying to hide? How odd.

"Why are we out here?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"I wanted to talk to you both privately. My office isn't private," She remarked, just as the man who had brought us here turned around and walked away. She ran her hands through her hair, almost nervously. What on earth was going on?

"Well we're here. Get talking," I said, tapping my foot impatiently. It was freezing out and I didn't have time to grab my coat on the way out the door.

"You are going to go out of the barriers and talk to Dimitri. I want you to find who killed him. It'll save us much more time. Lissa is going to go with you, to monitor you and make sure everything works out okay. I will wait here. See if you can get him to write it down, will you?" Queen Tatiana instructed.

I had to do what she asked. I couldn't tell her I had already seen him and he wouldn't tell me. That was ridiculous. Lissa grabbed my arm and tugged me through the barrier, wanting to get it over with.

"What are we gonna do, Liss? He won't tell," I said, stopping once we reached the rock I had found him at before.

"I don't know. Beg him, apologize, I don't know. He still loves you, use that against him," she instructed. I nodded in response, not sure it was going to work.

"Dimitri," I called once, really loudly. I sat down on the rock waiting.

"Call him again, will you?" Lissa said sitting down beside me.

"He heard me. Just give him a minute."

And there he was. His hair appeared to be ruffled and he had a gash down his face. How was this possible? He was a ghost, he couldn't be hurt. Could he?

"Come to cancel our plans?" He asked, his voice remarkably strong. It was much stronger than Mason's voice. Could Lissa hear it? I looked over, but she just motioned with her arms for me to call him again, unaware he was already here.

"No need, Liss. He's here," I said, pointing to the spot where he stood. "And no, I'm not. I'm here out of force, actually. Queen Tatiana wants us to talk to you about your killer."

"I can't tell you," he said.

"Well make something up. Someone you really really hate, and put them in jail so they'll drop the case. Then I can focus solely on saving you, without the added stress of the trial," I said, leaving the pad of paper and pen on the ground.

"You shouldn't do this, Rose."

"But I am, so deal with it," I said, raising my voice a little. He made me so angry sometimes.

"If they find out I talked to you again, they'll hurt me, Rose," he said, his voice much quieter than when he first started.

"What?" I said, blinking my eyes in disbelief. "How did they find out?"

"I was late for…something," he said, vaguely. He brushed back his hair a bit more, revealing a deeper cut. It looked like it hurt.

"I thought ghosts were transparent," I said.

Dimitri laughed. It wasn't the laugh I was used to, the one in my dreams, the one he used to have. It was still a laugh though. It was a start.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You. I'm not a ghost," he said, shooting me a small smile.

"Then what are you?" I questioned.

"That's not important right now. Let me just sign this paper thing for you so you can get out of here," Dimitri said, bending down to pick up the pen. I'm not sure how he picked it up, but he did.

"That's a special pen you know. It can only tell the truth," Lissa said, nodding towards the pen.

"What?" Dimitri and I said at the same time, though obviously Lissa only heard my voice.

"That's a pen I infused with spirit for her. I didn't know what it was for, but it won't let you write lies. Whoever he writes down is who really he killed him, that's why she's making you do this," Lissa said, frowning.

Dimitri didn't say anything, he only flipped the pad shut and handed it to me. He pointed towards the door, meaning it was necessary for me to leave. I wasn't sure if he was only allowed a certain amount of minutes to talk or if he just wanted me to leave or not, but I listened.

"Do you have it?" Queen Tatiana asked, waiting right by the door, hand outstretched.

"Yes, right here," I said, flipping open the pad.

Lissa and I gasped at the name on the paper.

_Who killed you?_ Was written in Queen Tatiana's handwriting.

Underneath in a messy scrawl, but still legible read one name.

** Rose.**

**Author's Note: I would have had this up much sooner, but I had a bit of a mind block and lots of studying to do. Anyways, hope you liked it! I'll have the next chapter up soon, as it's a long weekend and I have no homework left to do.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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